Field of the Invention
This invention relates to barbecue grills and, more particularly, to barbecue grills that are fueled by pelletized wood byproducts.
Description of Related Art
Most barbecue cookers currently in use are fueled by charcoal or charcoal briquettes, or employ gas burners fueled by propane or propane/butane mixtures. However, there are known in the prior art barbecue cookers that employ pelletized wood byproducts as fuel. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,823,684 describes a pellet-fired barbecue that is provided with an automatic pellet feeder to sustain the fire and the ongoing cooking task. Starting the fire in the pellet grill is far easier than in a charcoal grill, and the pellet fuel is cheaper than charcoal. Moreover, the amount of fuel consumed is only that which is necessary to complete the cooking task, since the pellet fire extinguishes itself rapidly when the pellet feeder is stopped, whereas charcoal fires tend to burn all the charcoal placed in the grill. And, unlike gas-fired grills, the pellet grill uses wood fuel that produces smoke that flavors the food being cooked on the grill.
However, one of the main problems with existing pellet grills is that the ashes left in the burner after use are difficult to remove. If the accumulated ash is not removed regularly, it may adversely affect the ability to start the pellet burner of the grill. Indeed, the burner should have the ash removed prior to each lighting of the grill.
Prior art pellet-fired grills are not well-constructed to facilitate removal of the ash from the burner unit. Generally, the upper grill components must be disassembled to gain access to the burner. For example, the cooking grates must be removed, an aversive process due to the grease and soot that inevitably coats the grates. Then the heat deflector and flame distributor must be removed to expose the burner unit. The ashes may then be removed, using a vacuum cleaner, and the heat deflector, flame distributor, and cooking grates must be replaced. This is a messy, dirty, and difficult process to undertake every time the grill is used.